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Lost: Better Off Dead

Cool knife, dude. Did you find that in the booth next to the smoked turkey legs?

Not to get all crazy on the ABC Promotional Department again, but come on. QUESTIONS! WILL! BE! ANSWERED!

O, rly? What, exactly, was answered, ABC? The fact that Sayid is bad now? Well, yes. But we were already informed that he was sick, so we sort of knew that it was only a matter of time. That Not!Locke is a bad smoke monster on a murderous bender? Uh, duh, yeah. That the baseball that Dogen keeps once belonged to his son? Wow.

Here’s the thing, ABC Promotional Department: I’m not even mad at you. You know why? I expected it. Yes, this episode was AMAZINGCAKES and truly upsetting and awful and exciting and heartbreaking. But, there were no big revelatory moments and you and I both know it. But it’s all good. I am not going to hate upon you.

I will note here that the title was deliberately misleading and that it upset some fans, what with the Sundown business and corresponding to a Sun-centric episode in season one. Yes, yes. Shake your fist at the writers and all that. Personally, I wonder if the fact that the writers diverged a bit from the season one timeline in regards to whose episode this would be corresponds to the idea that the timelines themselves have diverged, and no longer function on a similar one-to-one level?

Sundown is obviously the time that Not!Locke gives the Others before destroying the Temple, and is of course symbolic of the period before complete darkness. And worrisome in terms of what might be next for our characters. In terms of Sayid, it also corresponds to the darkening of his soul. But it’s sadder and deeper than that. Sundown is one of the five times a day Muslims are required to pray, and thus a reminder that Sayid was once a religious man, a God-fearing man, a good man who has been forced to make hard decisions his entire life. And now, sadly, having fought so long to be a good person, the light has dimmed within Sayid.

And oh my gawd, something that just occurred to me as I was writing this? What if the reason that this episode wasn’t Sun-centered is because Sun is actually dead in Timeline B? Get it? Sundown? I’m just saying, she’s nowhere to be seen in Timeline B; Steamy has been known to kill the daughters of powerful men out of spite; and after a long summer of yelling JIN LIVES! a couple years back, it would be kinda fun to yell, SUN’S DEAD! Because, you know, REVERSALS!

Timeline B Sayid arrives at a modest home in a suburban neighborhood bearing flowers. And look! It’s Nadia! Who is not dead! Hooray! And sporting some serious hardware — could they be married in this Timeline? With moppets? NO. REJECTION. Nadia is married with children to Sayid’s brother, Omer. Everyone is happy to see Sayid, although Omer casts a suspicious glance at those flowers that Sayid brought for his wife. Hmm.

Lost note #1: We’ve met Sayid’s brother, Omer, once before when they were both children in “He’s Our You.” In that episode, young Sayid steps in to kill a chicken that his older brother can’t bring himself to slaughter. Similarly, Eko stepped in to kill an older man as a child, relieving his younger brother of the duty. Eko grows up to become a drug lord, while his brother becomes the priest that Eko had hoped to become. Similarly, in Timeline B it would seem Omer has assumed the life that Sayid had hoped to have.

Lost note #2: Sayid was in love with Nadia in Timeline A from the time they were children. In that Timeline, he is forced to interrogate her as a member of the Iraqi Republican Guard. He later releases her, and the risk to his own life, and spends the next seven years searching for her.

The family enjoys some after dinner tea, and the moppets harass Uncle Sayid for their presents, so he sends them into his suitcase to go dig around in his suitcases to find them. In the meantime, Omer marvels at Sayid and his glamorous world travels as an oil company translator. Omer, in comparison, is a dry cleaning king, who has to take phone calls in the middle of dinner. Heavy is the head that wears the dry cleaning crown and all that. As he excuses himself, Nadia takes the opportunity to ask Sayid if he’s received her letters, and Nadia! Writing love letters to your brother-in-law! TSK. Sayid apparently never wrote her back, but O LOOK, the moppets found mommy’s picture in Sayid’s suitcase. AWK-WAAARD! Especially since Omer overhears this. D’oh. Also, BOOMERANGS! HOORAY!

Lost note: In Timeline A, Sayid travels the world for seven years in search of Nadia, stopping along the way to be tortured here and there, and doing some work for the CIA on the side. He notably sacrifices his friend’s life in exchange for Nadia in “The Greater Good.” AHEM.

Lost note #2: In a deleted scene from season two, the tailies discover a crate full of boomerangs that had washed up on shore. The crate, if I’m not mistaken, was shipped from the travel agency that denied Locke his Walkabout. Also, boomerang is a symbol of the return.

Omer and Nadia don’t have a guest room, making poor Sayid sleep on the couch, which is where Omer wakes him up to announce that, um, yeah, so, he’s in trouble with a loan shark and wants Sayid to “talk” to them. After all! Little brother was an interrogator in the Republican Guard! So, you know, we all know what kind of man Sayid is… Sayid’s like, Dude. I don’t “talk” to people anymore. I’m not that man anymore.

Sayid escorts the moppets to their school bus, who are sad their uncle won’t stay with them forever and make their mommy happy. *cough* As the bus pulls away, Nadia rushes outside with bad news written all over her face.

Cut to hospital, where Sayid and Nadia rush past Dr. McWeepy, and are briefed by a doctor: Omer has suffered a punctured lung and some internal bleeding in a “mugging,” and is being taken in for surgery right now. As the doctor leaves, Nadia urges Sayid to go home and make the moppets feel safe and NOT GO KILL ANYONE IN RETALIATION. GOT IT?

Lost note: In “Abandoned” we also see Dr. Jack rush past Shannon and her mother when they arrive at the hospital, after he chooses to save Sarah instead of Adam Rutherford.

Nadia returns from the hospital to find Sayid repairing a vase broken in an unfortunate boomerang incident. And he assures her that he told the moppets that their father had an accident, but will be better soon. He just fixes everything, doesn’t he? Also, he has cash monies, so… but Nadia refuses Sayid’s offer to get Omer off the hook for this one. And then wonders why Sayid wanders around the world carrying her picture with him, when he pushed her to be with his brother. Sayid explains that he’s been trying to clean his hands of some of the nastier things he did 12 years ago, and simply doesn’t deserve her. SAD.

Lost note: In Timeline A, Sayid repairs Danielle’s broken music box, in an attempt to win her trust.

Sayid is off to pick up the moppets in the moppet van when he is intercepted by Omar, not to be confused with Omer. Omar encourages him to get into his vehicle, which Sayid does after Omar not-so-subtly threatens the moppets. And then they all go to Steamy’s House of Eggs, where Steamy is busy frying up some eggs while working on his Christopher Walken impersonation. YAY STEAMY! Steamy is all bent out of shape about Omer owing him money, and takes offense when Sayid responds that Omer has finished paying what he owed. Nope! He hasn’t! And now someone is going to pay. Sayid asks Steamy if he put Omer in the hospital, and Steamy’s like, you know, it’s a very dangerous world out there, which Sayid should know being from Iraq and all. And then out of nowhere, Sayid begins stabbing everyone. And takes Omar’s gun, which he shoots Minion with, before turning it towards Steamy. Steamy is suddenly willing to forgive Omer’s debt, Sayid should just relax and forget about it. But, alas for Steamy, Sayid can’t, and he shoots Steamy in the chest, killing him. BAI STEAMY! It was nice seeing you again! That dreadful business taken care of, Sayid notices a noise coming from the freezer, with its big CAUTION: KEEP DOOR CLOSED sign, and opens it to find Jin! Bound and duct taped! And not speaking any English!

JIN!

Oh dear.

Lost note: Steamy and Omar were part of the psycho freighter guys who came to the Island and shot everybody up and were very very bad. Benry kills Steamy, but, HA HA , Steamy had a dead-man switch on his arm that caused the freighter to blow up, and instigated a months long fight between me and my beloved commenters over whether or not Jin was actually dead. P.S., Steamy totally kills Sun in Timeline B. Maybe.

Lost note #2: Sayid is tortured by a restaurant owner in “Enter 77″ in revenge for what Sayid did to his wife in Iraq. Sayid is held captive in a pantry by his torturers, echoing a theme of captivity that runs throughout the show, including now with Jin. Other notable examples (but certainly not a comprehensive list) include Cooper being held by Benry, and later Locke and Sawyer; Benry being held by Locke multiple times; Jack, Kate and Sawyer being held by Benry, Kate being held by Desmond in the Swan hatch pantry; Sayid being held by Danielle; the slaves on the Black Rock; Claire in the pit; and Not!Locke feeling that he has been held captive on the Island for oh so many years. It’s one of your bigger themes, captivity.

On Timeline A, Sayid marches into Dogen’s office all wound up and looking for answers, like some chatters I could name. Dogen is all SIGH. WHAT NOW? And Sayid demands to know what was up with that weird shock machine, for instance. Dogen describes it as a scale measuring the goodness and evil within Sayid, and, bad news for Sayid: it tipped the wrong way. Sorry, dude. And, yeah, that’s why we wanted to poison you. Sayid’s all “YOU DON’T KNOW ME! Y’ALL ARE HATERS! WHATEVEH!” And that’s when Dogen busts out the kung fu. Fighting, fighting, fighting, and Dogen eventually gets the upper hand, pinning Sayid to his desk. Dogen is about to make the kill shot, when his baseball falls to the floor, and he suddenly changes his mind. He releases Sayid and orders him to leave the Temple and never return. OUT OUT DAMNED SAYID!

Outside of the Temple, Not!Locke and Ras Claire survey the site. Claire wonders why he won’t send Jin or Sawyer in, or go in himself? Not!Locke explains that if he could do it himself, he would. Claire wants assurances that if she goes in, he’ll deliver on his promise to get her son back. Not!Locke, answers somewhat imprecisely that he always does what he says. And when asked if he’s going to hurt the Temple folk, he responds that he will only hurt those who don’t listen.

Sayid packs up his junk to the consternation of Miles. Sayid explains that he’s been banished, which is ironic since the Others were the ones who saved him in the first place. And Miles is like, uh, dude, no. You were dead for 2 hours, and the Others were as surprised as we were that you came back to life. Whatever brought you back — it ain’t the Others. And that’s when Claire arrives, and announces to Dogen that He wants to speak to him. Dogen is all, Why doesn’t He come in here and tell me to MY FACE. Claire tells him, no, that He’s waiting for Dogen just right outside the Temple wall, and if Dogen doesn’t want to go out there on account of the fact that He will totally kill his head off, why doesn’t Dogen send someone out who He won’t kill? The Others grab Claire and take her to a giant pit in the ground, as Dogen orders Dustin to bring him Jack and Hurley, and Dustin’s like, yeah, funny story. We can’t find them. SIGH. So, Dogen is left with one other option – let’s have a chat, Sayid.

Inside his office, Dogen explains to Sayid that Claire is under the influence of a very ticked-off guy who previously had been trapped, but now that Jacob is dead he has been released and is going to kill everyone on the Island. For kicks, let’s just call him “Evil Incarnate,” because that about covers it. So, here’s the dealie, you’re going to take this cool knife I picked up at the Ren Faire, and you’re going to kill him. He’s going to look like a dead friend of yours, and before he can say a word, you’re going to need to get all stabby on him. If he says anything, it’s too late. Sayid wonders why he would help a Dogen out, and Dogen is like, well, you claim you’re a good person. Prove it, already.

Walking through the jungle, walking through the jungle, walking through the jungle, and Sayid happens upon Kate, who is apparently the easiest person to find on the Island at any given time. Kate’s asks if he’s leaving, and Sayid’s not sure? Maybe? Who can say. Anyway, Miles can probably explain what’s going on. Kate just waltzes right into the Temple and finds Miles playing a little Solitaire. Miles is like, HA. Sawyer dumped you. Anyway, Claire’s back, looking like a hot mess — emphasis on hot. (And I swear, if I didn’t know that they wrote and filmed this months ago…) Kate has a freak out.

Back to Sayid walking through the jungle, walking through the jungle, walking through the jungle, HEY WHAT’S THAT NOISE? Not!Locke emerges from the bushes and is all What’s up, Sayid? OH, SAYID WILL TELL YOU WHAT’S UP: A KNIFE IN THE CHEST, THAT’S WHAT! But, yeah, it doesn’t do anything. Not!Locke just yoinks the knife back out again, and is like uh, uncool. But, he returns Sayid’s cool Ren Faire knife, to Sayid’s surprise. So what is it that the Others said about him? Sayid offers that the Others referred to Not!Locke as Evil Incarnate, and so Not!Locke takes another tack with Sayid: pity. See, Dogen knew that Sayid wouldn’t be able to kill Not!Locke, that this would be a suicide mission, and Sayid, despite the fact that Dogen has tried to have Sayid killed before, went along with it. Well, doy, Sayid. Sayid wonders what it is that Not!Locke wants from him, seeing as he hasn’t killed him yet. Not!Locke explains that he has a message that he would like Sayid to deliver, which will be considerably more convincing coming from Sayid than Claire. And in return, Not!Locke will give Sayid anything he wanted in the entire world. Sayid has a sad, and explains that the only thing he wants died in his arms and he’ll never see her again, and Not!Locke is all O RLY?

Lostnote: After returning from the Island, Sayid and Nadia married and were happy for about 15 minutes. But then one day, the happy couple was wandering around Los Angeles, and Sayid was stopped by a man looking for directions who just happened to be a demigod from a magical Island. Nadia was stuck by a car and killed. Sadness.

Sayid returns to the Temple and announces that there is a man in the jungle who would like them all to know that Jacob is dead and as a result, no one has to hang around here anymore! You’re free! Furthermore, this dude is going to leave the Island, and if they’d like to come along, they need to leave the Temple by sundown. Otherwise, they’ll die. Cool? Cool.

Kate attacks Dustin in her search for Claire, and for whatever reason, he agrees to let Kate see her, for 2 minutes. He leads Kate to a pit where it puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again. And there’s Claire, singing “Catch a Falling Star” to herself and her dreads. Claire is very happy to see Kate, and announces that the Others took Aaron — Kate is all, oh honey! That’s not what happened at all! I took him! Off the Island! We couldn’t find you, so I thought it would be best if I abducted your son and raised him like my own. He’s really adorable! And I came back here to rescue you so that you can raise him yourself! You can thank me later. And as Dustin drags Kate away from the crazypit, Claire assures Kate that she’s not the one who needs rescue. He’s coming Kate! He’s coming and they can’t stop Him! OKEY DOKE, CRAZYHAIR CLAIRE!

Lost note: When Claire is planning on giving Aaron up for adoption, she asks a set of potential parents if they know the song “Catch a Falling Star,” as it was a song her father used to sing to her when she was little. Later, when the Others abduct Claire, they set up the nursery for her with a crib and a mobile that plays “Catch a Falling Star.”

As the Temple folks get out of Dodge, Cindy and the kids included, Dustin is RILLY MAD at Sayid for creating a Temple panic (which I’m sure was a grunge band in the early 90s). Sayid’s like, just doin’ my job, dude.

Sayid then heads in to the spring to find a despondent Dogen and a despondent Dogen’s baseball. Dogen’s like HEAVING SIGH. You talked to him, didn’t you? Sayid explains that he actually stabbed Not!Locke in the chest first, and then spoke to him. And then dramatically drops the Ren Faire to the ground. Sayid is all, why you keep trying to get people to kill me, yo? Why don’t you just do it yourself? Dogen explains that he once was a banker back in Japan who got a big promotion, so he and his co-workers went to get their drink on. And then he drunkenly picked his son up from baseball. This ended poorly, and while Dogen survived the wreck, the kid? Well, this guy named Jacob comes sauntering in to the hospital and offers to save the kid on the condition that Dogen come live on the Island and never see his son again. Sayid notes that Jacob drives a hard bargain, and admits that he did make a similar bargain with Not!Locke. O hey! It’s sundown! So, what’s it going to be Sayid? Are you going to stay or go? Why, Sayid would like to stay! TO KILL YOU. Drowning drowning drowning, and now Dogen is dead. Sad. Dustin comes in to find Dogen a floater and freaks out that Dogen was the only thing keeping “it” out! Oh, Sayid knows, sweetie, and here’s a fancy Ren Faire knife to your throat for your trouble. See you in Eastbound and Down, Dustin!

Lost note: This business of Sayid drowning Dogen in the spring is a nice closed loop. Sayid shot Benry as a child who was brought to the spring for healing. Later, Sayid was shot by Benry’s father and he was brought to the spring to be healed himself. Dogen and the Others promptly drowned him. But! Then! Sayid comes back to life, turns all evil, and drowns Dogen in the same spring. Loop-de-loop.

Kate and Miles dash into the Temple, but become separated when Kate goes to save Claire. Miles in the meantime is discovered by Ilana, Benry, Lawnmower Man and Sun who decide that now is a good time to pay a visit to the Temple? Miles informs them that he’s been separated from Kate, that Jack, Hurley and Sawyer aren’t there, and that Sayid is hanging out at the spring. Benry runs off to fetch Sayid, and Ilana herds the rest of them to the Jacob’s secret door, while Sun reels from the news that Jin is, in fact, still alive. Kate, in the meantime, urges Claire to get out of her pit, but Claire insists that it’s the safest place to be, and sure enough, here comes Smokey — Kate jumps into the pit, hanging precariously onto a rope ladder as Smokey rages over head. Yikes! And Benry discovers Super Creepy Sayid just hanging out at the spring, watching the blood drip from his Ren Faire knife into the pool. Hey! Sayid! Let’s go! There’s still time! Not for Sayid, says Sayid with an insanely scary smile. BACK AWAY SLOWLY, BENRY. DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF THAT ONE.

And then Claire, Sayid and Kate exit the carnage of the Temple in slow motion, to join Not!Locke and the turncoat Others as they stalk off into the jungle. Stalking through the jungle, stalking through the jungle, stalking through the jungle.

Oh dear.

So someone asked me in the chat about the use of eggs in this episode, and what I took from it. I made some cheeky response about Steamy Keamy, but in reality I was trying to remember what, exactly, “Eggtown” was about. I knew it was about Kate and Aaron, but the details were foggy at best, and rather than give an answer I’d later regret, I went with saying something dumb now with the plan to research it later.

As it turns out, “Eggtown” was the episode in which we learned that not only had Aaron been taken off the Island, but that Kate was raising him. It’s kinda amazing to go back and read the shock in that recap and comments at this revelation, in part because we, the audience, have lived with this fact for so long now that it doesn’t feel like a big deal, and in part because it reflects what crazy Claire must be feeling about now — complete and utter shock that 1. Aaron is no longer on the Island and that 2. Kate pretended to be his mom. In this regard, eggs are a feminine symbol, representing motherhood, the womb etc., etc. And the egg has been broken.

Furthermore, “Eggtown” begins with Locke frying up some eggs for Benry while he’s holding Benry captive in New Otherton. So there’s a nice reference going on there: Berny will eventually kill Locke, Sayid will eventually kill Steamy. Ta-da!

And perhaps most importantly, we have to consider what “eggtown” the term means. When “Eggtown” originally aired, Lostpedia included this explanation for the title:

Egg-town is a pejorative term that refers to the days of bartering, during the 1800s. A traveling salesman would have to barter his candy or tobacco or shoelaces for different commodities. A poor exchange would be for eggs, a relatively common item that is also highly perishable. Nobody wants to trade for eggs from a traveling salesman because they have their own, so the salesman who accepted an egg in exchange was forced to accept a bad deal. Salesmen would use the term like “If I were you I would stay away from Bogart. That’s an egg-town.” Of course, the lack of trust among salesman was also high, and it was likely that one salesman would lie to another about the quality of a town’s customers to keep them for himself. Invariably, the second salesman ventures into Bogart only to find it is truly an egg-town. He is either persuaded to not visit a town that has good customers or is tricked into visiting a town that can only offer eggs. The term “egg-town” represents a deal with undesirable outcomes in either case.

Darlton later came out and said something or other about Locke making Benry eggs, and motherhood, and the explanation above was removed. But. If it is the case that “egg-town” is a term for a bad bargain, a poor trade, everything makes a lot more sense. Steamy is about to make Sayid a poor offer, and there is no good outcome for Sayid. Either he finds himself in the same sort of mess his brother is now in, tangled up with Steamy and his rather creative bookkeeping, or he kills Steamy and undoes all the work he has done since the war in an attempt to redeem himself. Eggs all around.

And this is the revelation that I had during this episode: Timeline B? is Not!Locke’s offer. And it’s an egg.

Sayid obviously makes a Faustian bargain with Not!Locke in this episode: you go tell everyone at the Temple that I’m coming to kill them and I’ll give you the one thing you want. And it’s funny, I have mentioned Faustian bargains a number of times in recaps, but the first? Was in the recap for “The Economist,” the episode wherein we discover that Sayid is working for Benry, killing Widmore’s men:

I found this recurring issue of bets or wagers interesting — we actually have a lot of betting on the island, to pass the time, the survivors often engaged in friendly wagering with the games they played, golf, cards, whathaveyou. And of course, there’s Hurley’s lottery. A bet is a kind of contract, a promise, with certain risk factors for both sides. Which is interesting, because what this episode reminded me of the most is the Faust story which involves a man who makes a deal with the devil.

The Faust story is very old, originating in the early centuries of Christiandom, and has been told in many forms, most famously by Christopher Marlowe and Goethe. (And I’m sure this is merely coincidence, but Goethe’s version is what’s known as a “closet” drama, which is a play that is intended to be read alone — I just thought it was interesting in light of all the closets in this particular episode.) The basic story is the same: Doctor Faust or Faustus (which means “lucky”) is a successful, intelligent man who nonetheless strikes a deal with the devil: the devil’s minion Mephistophilis will be Faustus’ slave for a certain number of years, and then, at the end of that time, Faustus’s soul will belong to the devil.

We have a very telling line in the episode that alludes to this: Sayid asserts to Locke that “the day I start trusting him (Benry) is the day I would have sold my soul.” Which, of course, is what has apparently happened. But unlike Faustus who sold his soul for alchemical secrets, Sayid seems to be beholden to Benry in exchange for protecting someone else (the other Oceanic 6? the people left on the island? unclear). Sayid doesn’t relish working for Benry, but seems utterly powerless not to. And while Sayid appears to have no compunction about killing Mr. Avellino on the golf course, he clearly is conflicted by Elsa. Sayid is not soulless, he is not heartless, but to preserve the greater good, the safety of his friends, he has to kill others. He has compromised his soul.

INDEED.

And so now, we see the larger pattern of Sayid’s life, repeatedly killing, torturing, selling his soul so as to protect others. He protects his brother as a child, he protects the Iraqi people as a soldier, and he protects Nadia in America, but it all comes at a cost — his soul. Because there’s always a price. And this time, here on the Island, he’s lost his soul to Not!Locke altogether, and for a deal that is, at best, something of an egg.

Sayid holds up his end of the bargain: he delivers Not!Locke’s message for him, to devastating effect. And, Not!Locke, on his part, holds up his end of the bargain too: but in Timeline B. What Sayid says specifically is “I would tell you that the only thing I ever wanted, died in my arms, and I’ll never see it again,” and Not!Locke responds “What if you could?” And sure enough, Sayid does see Nadia again, but in Timeline B. He’s not married to her, they won’t be together, but she is alive, here in this other life. The one where Jacob doesn’t watch her die.

And that’s the thing about making a deal with the devil: you have to negotiate carefully, because he’ll always try to catch you on some sort of technicality. Sayid sees Nadia again, but he’s not with Nadia, and is still the killer that he struggles to not be. On Timeline B, Locke has the love and acceptance that he sought his entire life, but he’s still in that wheelchair. On Timeline B, Jack is a better father than his own father was, but his relationship with Christian is still strained and Christian is still dead and missing. When negotiating terms with the devil, you must always ask: what am I getting for all of this? What is the price, and who has to pay?

I’ve noticed a lot of struggling in the chat and in the comments over whether or not Not!Locke is actually “bad” or “evil incarnate,” and I find this fascinating. I understand the impulse to not write Not!Locke off as evil, but I have to respectfully disagree. Everything the writers have given us, including and particularly this deal-making business, is to indicate to us that Not!Locke is very, very bad. Now, while Jacob clearly negotiated with Dogen — come be my Temple-keeper, and I will save your son — it was giving Dogen chance at redemption, a way for Dogen to repent. God often demands that the faithful give up something to be with him, to follow him: monks and nuns in many religions give up marriage and family to be closer to God; followers are expected to give up lives of sin; earthly desires and personal relationships often are expected to be sacrificed. God always drives a hard bargain, and sometimes acts in ways that we might even deem cruel: just ask Job. But in the end, the faithful are rewarded with something greater: forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of their souls, ascending to a higher plane. The devil, however, only promises instant gratification: he deals in money, sex and power. And Sawyer, Claire and Sayid are making deals with Not!Locke for their — and his — personal gain: leave this island! be with your child again! see the woman you love alive! And all for the low, low price of your soul.

But there’s something more that makes me fairly certain that our friend, Not!Locke, is, in fact, “evil incarnate:” the destruction of the Temple. In the Old Testament, Daniel the prophet receives the following message from God:

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.“

1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2″Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9″Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel–let the reader understand– 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now–and never to be equaled again. 22If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.

26″So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29″Immediately after the distress of those days ” ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30″At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32″Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

In Christian eschatology, before the end of time can happen, before the final judgment and the Kingdom of Heaven can be established, there will be a period of tribulation, darkness. The Temple will be destroyed, times will be tough for everyone, and then a battle will be waged between the Antichrist and the “lamb of God” before the Antichrist can be vanquished into a bottomless pit for 1,000 years. The Antichrist is briefly freed, only to make trouble with Gog and Magog, before God has enough, casts him into a lake of fire and gets to the business of the final judgment.

Now, as always, I’m not suggesting that this whole show is essentially Left Behind on an island. But you can’t ignore the religious imagery and allusions: Not!Locke longs to be free, destroys a temple and is assembling his soldiers for some sort of battle against Jacob and his followers. Good versus evil: its the oldest story on Earth. And here’s what is important: the 1,000 years of peace can’t be, the final judgment or Kingdom of Jacob or whatever can’t happen, until there is this terrible battle. Not!Locke has an important role, just as Judas did, just as the Antichrist does: before the light must come darkness. The sun must set before it can rise. For good to win, it must triumph over evil.

But what to make of the two timelines? I’m still wrestling with the two timelines and their relationship to each other. I still believe that Timeline B branched off at the detonation of Jughead in 1977. But I’m beginning to wonder if Jacob’s death didn’t also play a role in the creation of this other timeline, as it appears that the two timelines not only reflect what would happen to the survivors if the Island is destroyed, but it appears that it is even more layered than that: the two timelines represent the different paths that Not!Locke and Jacob have to offer the survivors. Timeline A is Jacob’s version, Timeline B, Not!Locke’s. And at the moment, Not!Locke’s timeline appears to be much more appealing. Our dead friends are back, people have found love and happiness, lives are fulfilled.

But don’t be suckered by this. As noted in the recap for “The Substitute,” this timeline comes at a cost: greatness, heroism, the opportunity to sacrifice one’s self for something greater. Furthermore, I wonder if this timeline won’t actually ultimately be finite. If the Island is destroyed, if Jacob never selects his chosen people to protect the Island and Smokey, a.k.a. “evil incarnate,” is freed from his bonds, what will it mean for our world?

There is an interesting symbol that I neglected to discuss in the past episode that I think is hugely important in our discussion here: the Shen-Ring on the door that Hurley discovers, and that Ilana uses in this episode. My good friend JohnnyREB1977 (and let me say, he was using that handle long before 1977 became so amazingly important on the show) on The Fuselage pointed out to me the amazing symbolism in this hieroglyphic: the Shen-Ring is an Egyptian symbol that means, basically, “eternity” and/or “all.” It is similar to my good friend the oroborus, suggesting that time is cyclical, eternal. What’s interesting about this symbol is that it was often used to protect the names of the Pharaohs, enclosing them in a protective loop, keeping it safe from darkness and chaos. It’s a creative, solar symbol, associated with the manifestation of the universe, and the royals — who were the incarnations of Horus and Ra. Ahem. (And what is interesting to note about Ilana ushering everyone through that door are a couple things: she tells everyone to get “inside” which suggests that it isn’t a passageway outside of the Temple, but rather some sort of room. Perhaps the use of the Shen-Ring suggests that it is a sacred room for Jacob, a Most Holy Place, as with Solomon’s Temple. If so, 1. how does Ilana know about it, and what does it mean that she’s allowed inside of it, as usually sacred spaces in Temples are designated for high priests only and 2. is this why Jacob sends Hurley back for Jack before he is able to pass through it? Just some things to chew on.) BUT! And I’m getting to the point, promise, the symbol is made up of two symbols: a circle and a line. These two symbols represent two visions of time, one cyclical, the other linear. From this site:

“… for the Egyptians time had several aspects and was structured in different ways. (…) One is the cyclic line of periodicity, which manifested itself to the Egyptians above all in the regular repetition of the Nile flood- waters and the florishing of crops.

From this was derived the year (rnpt) as a unit of time: this term means literally ‘the rejuvenescent’, and of itself indicates the cyclic character of time. It had striking political implications, too, since the reign of each pharaoh was considered a new beginning.

The second aspect of time is expressed by the idea of time stretching lineally to infinity (chronologically speaking: to eternity); it is exemplified by the aspiration to the fulfilment of the [career steps] on the part of Egyptian officials, and by the urge for indestructibility impressively symbolized by the mummy. These ideas of the structure of time are certainly most characteristic. (…)

The time for persons has its geometric location on the straight line leading to infinity. (…) But the time for natural phenomena as well as for objects relating to cult etc. is linked to the cyclical time, and here the repetitive character is logical and necessary.”19

The circle and the line were thus also the elements that made up time, and they obviously had to touch each other since the world existed simultaneously in both.

Two times, one stretching out in a linear fashion, one looping over itself, cyclically. But where do they meet? What is that point where they touch, where they cross? The crossroads is a loaded symbol discussed here many times: a moment and place of choice, a location where the devil awaits you looking to make you an offer you can not refuse, the place where the spirits can pass from their world into ours. What we will find at our crossroads? Will Not!Locke be there waiting with the temptation of Timeline B, the life they think they want, in exchange for the destruction of the Island? A finite bit of temporal happiness and gratification in exchange for an everlasting greater good?

My head hurts. Mostly from sadness over Bad Sayid. Maybe that’s why he smelled so good: all that yummy evil.

Mr. T’sLost Blog: I miss the old Locke. I thought I didn’t like Old Locke, but it turns out I liked him a lot more than this guy.

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